![“[Building nerf blasters] became this outlet of creativity for me that hasn't been matched by anything else. The process [of] making a build complete to your desire is such a painstakingly difficult process, but I've had to learn from [the skills needed from] soldering to proper painting. There's so many different options for everything, if you think about it, it exists. The best part is [that] if it doesn't exist, you can build it yourself," Ishaan Parate said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_8149-900x604.jpg)
![“When I came into high school, I was ready to be a follower. But DECA was a game changer for me. It helped me overcome my fear of public speaking, and it's played such a major role in who I've become today. To be able to successfully lead a chapter of 150 students, an officer team and be one of the upperclassmen I once really admired is something I'm [really] proud of,” Anvitha Tummala ('21) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-25-at-9.50.05-AM-900x594.png)
![“I think getting up in the morning and having a sense of purpose [is exciting]. I think without a certain amount of drive, life is kind of obsolete and mundane, and I think having that every single day is what makes each day unique and kind of makes life exciting,” Neymika Jain (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Screen-Shot-2017-06-03-at-4.54.16-PM.png)
![“My slogan is ‘slow feet, don’t eat, and I’m hungry.’ You need to run fast to get where you are–you aren't going to get those championships if you aren't fast,” Angel Cervantes (12) said. “I want to do well in school on my tests and in track and win championships for my team. I live by that, [and] I can do that anywhere: in the classroom or on the field.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DSC5146-900x601.jpg)
![“[Volleyball has] taught me how to fall correctly, and another thing it taught is that you don’t have to be the best at something to be good at it. If you just hit the ball in a smart way, then it still scores points and you’re good at it. You could be a background player and still make a much bigger impact on the team than you would think,” Anya Gert (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AnnaGert_JinTuan_HoHPhotoEdited-600x900.jpeg)
![“I'm not nearly there yet, but [my confidence has] definitely been getting better since I was pretty shy and timid coming into Harker my freshman year. I know that there's a lot of people that are really confident in what they do, and I really admire them. Everyone's so driven and that has really pushed me to kind of try to find my own place in high school and be more confident,” Alyssa Huang (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AlyssaHuang_EmilyChen_HoHPhoto-900x749.jpeg)
From January 8 to 10, 16 students from Harker Business Club (HBC) traveled to San Ramon’s Marriott Hotel and competed in a business conference for the Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA).
The members of the club brought back two gold trophies from their weekend trip. Seniors Carissa Jansen (12) and Sonya Huang (12) won first place out of 19 other teams when competing against teams from the Monta Vista High School [Cupertino] DECA chapter, usually recurring winners, in the category of Internet Marketing Plan.
“At first I was really surprised on Sunday morning, because I thought we could have done a little better on our presentation. [Winning] was really surprising, most of all it was shocking. We went up against the president [of Monta Vista High School],” Carissa said.
“It’s nice to win against a powerhouse school,” Sonya said.
Competing individually, Muralikrishna Joshi (10) brought back the second gold of the day in the category of Principles of Finance.
“You work hard and hopefully it pays off through the trophies. I felt like all the stress and the pressure were relieved. Once you receive that award and step on the podium, you feel that all that work is paid off,” Muralikrishna said.
The majority (10 out of 16) of the HBC members attending were freshmen, going on the first business conference of their high school careers.
“It was very interesting. It was very difficult competing with other people, but at the same time I learned a lot,“ Joseph Wang (9) said.
Along with the conference and competition, the members were also given the opportunity to attend a dance and a free buffet breakfast.
The members of HBC will travel from March 11 to 14 for their state conference.
